Naruto, The Black Decay of the Leaf: Naruto,Ha no Kuro Fuhai
by Sobek-Ra King of Crocodiles
Summary: Naruto's life Hell. Brought to an inch from death many times the Shinigami gives Naruto a boon. Very Smart/strong/bloodline/Naruto. Parental Kakashi, Friendly Kurama. Harem? Warnings: Child abuse, starvation, melancholy, references to torture, references to death, and all of Naruto's sad past. Rated accordingly. Title courtesy of Google Translate. I don't own Naruto. Enjoy.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: (I have, as is now par for the course failed to upload a pilot chapter for one of my works by the end of the sixth month and in so doing broken my words. I am terrible, am I not. It is a bit short, as my family can has passed. There is unlikely to be any update on this story or Gohan and the Celestial Kings until August because of this. My apologies. She was old and it was expected within a year or two. For any interested in the fate of her body read the rest of this note, if not proceed to the story. She will be part of communal cremation and sprinkled in a Vineyard. I live on California's central coast, lots of wine, cattle, and agriculture county around.)**

 **P.S. In this story I use the older spelling of daemon instead of demon, blame Mary Shelley, I recently reread Frankenstein.**

 **P.P.S. I apologize for any spelling errors in the names and terminology of Naruto, and as is the obvious case I don't own or claim to own Naruto, only my strange brain dribble about it do I claim.**

* * *

 **Interitus**

 **Chapter 1: Death's Door**

The village hidden in the leaves is by far the grates of the five great hidden ninja villages. Its people live in great prosperity and live lives whose winter are filled with more cheerfulness and contentment than hardships, even though they are still recovering from the attack of the dreaded Nine-Tailed Fox 'greatest of the tailed beasts'. The village is well protected under the second reign of the third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi, whose titles include 'Professor' and 'God of Shinobi'.

In only five short years the Village had almost completely recovered from its bout with the daemon, in all but one way. The villagers and shinobi that had lived through that fateful night were still emotionally scarred. Many had lost family and friends. Thus, all was not always sunshine and soft breezes. The majority of those that had lost something that night five years ago to the day would give their whole being just to kill the blasted daemon that took their loved ones from away from them, and that is exactly what they tried to do on an increasing constant basis.

The daemon had not been killed five years ago, most everyone that could remember that night knew that much. In reality the leader of the village at the time, the late forth Hokage Minato Nanikaze, had sealed the daemon fox's entire being into his own son at the cost of his own life. It took his life because the seal was made by the Shinigami himself. The seal would hold true under his power, ensuring that the beast can't escape on its own and that it would die with the destruction or death of its receptacle. The bulk of village knew there was sealing Justu involved, but only the Hokage and a select few knew the whole truth. The Shinobi, Elder, and Clan-head councils knew that the daemon was sealed within an infant that day, but most of their members feared the seal might be two week and lead to the boy being controlled or becoming as the fox itself. Among those councils the only Danzo Shima, Shikaku Nara, and Shibi Aburame knew the strength of the seal and that it would hold indefinitely, their coworkers and those that their councils represent were not so fortunate. The civilians and the Civilian and Merchant councils respectively were the least aware of the events that occurred those five years ago. Most of the civilians, being ignorant of sealing Jutsu, believed that Nine-Tailed Fox had been sealed into the form of a baby by their hero the forth Hokage. They believed that he had done this so the daemon could be vulnerable enough to be killed.

Thus, it was that misguided civilians and a multitude vengeful Shinobi went about making life in the Great Village Hidden in the Leaves, aka Konoha, a sojourn in hell for one Naruto Uzumaki. The young boy was beaten to unconsciousness no less than 5 times a week, and be beaten twice as hard on holidays, since he was learned to walk and talk at the age of two. His unnatural development of motor functions and coherent speech was all the excuse they needed to confirm their fears, and for the orphanage matron to throw him on the streets. Naruto was not welcome in any of the shops, no vendor would let him near their wares, and he was only aloud to get his essentials from one store in the village. He was only allowed that much because the Hokage had told the owner in no uncertain terms that if Naruto was barred from shopping their said owner would be skinned alive by Ibiki. Even if he could by things there he would be given the worst of the worst and be charged a triple or even quadruple premium for it. When he bought food their it was either spoiled, molding, or fallout rotten. On the rare occasion that the food was semi presentable it was either poisoned or otherwise tampered with to harm him. When he couldn't even afford food, he scavenged the dumpsters and peoples trash.

All this, aside from Naruto being unwelcomed in every shop, was kept from the Hokage by two forces. The first was the greatest enemy of all the Kage, its power the only constant they knew and the only thing that the Five Kage could never conquer, the task of Sisyphus known as _**paperwork**_. The second force was Donzo and the elders Homura, and Koharu. Donzo wanted the Naruto to become the perfect weapon, and for that to happen the boy needed darkness and pain. Homura similarly wanted a weapon, but one that was loyal to Konoha. His thoughts were that if the child could handle this he would grow strong and become grateful to any that reached out to him. Yes, Homura feared what might happen should he act to late, but with the village as it is he could do nothing, so he simply let it happen. Koharu on the other hand wanted blood, she lost her son and grandson that night. She knew that she could do nothing, but that didn't mean she couldn't keep others from noticing the boy's plight.

So, it is that this day, Naruto's fifth birthday, that said boy has been running and hiding from the villagers and shinobi. Naruto was no fool, he was actually quite intelligent, which the people took as signs that the daemon was gaining control because of how young Naruto was when he started developing his speech patterns. To put it in perspective he was speaking fully formed, coherent, and complex sentences that would be difficult for Chunin to follow when he was two and a half years old. The point is that his mind knew the ins and outs of Shinobi life from observing at a far and up-close. He was small and sneaky, good marks in his favor for survival, but he was also weak from severe malnutrition, exposure to the elements, and near constant physical, mental, and emotional abuse. He knew that when, not if, he got caught, he was going to be out of it for at least 2 days. Despite all he had been through he held no desire to strike back, for a part of him subconsciously knew their pain and knew its source was within him. That did not stop his conscious mind from wishing to be anywhere else or from longing to have so much as a single person that would except him. No matter how intelligent a child is still a child and needs support from someone, anyone. Having nothing and no one Naruto had no reason to stick around if Death came, but he had too much pride to cross that threshold either. Naruto's intelligence came in a way from the Shinigami. The seal held a portion of his parents' souls, and as the fox these soul fragment would eventually be absorbed into Naruto. It was because Naruto was forced to fight for his survival that the seal prioritized healing factor promotion, which strengthened his body so he could move, and knowledge. As it was the seal started developing Naruto's mind and allowing to absorb learned skills from the soul fragments of his parents. No power or memories, but things like speech, strategy, mathematics, critical thinking, concealment, and history were all freely flowing into his brain. Naruto knowing it was only a matter of time before he was found and was more likely to get caught if he moves, stayed where he was in an alley behind a third-rate hotel's dumpster.

* * *

The mobs found Naruto at about 21:00 hours. They had been torturing the boy for about an hour and a half. The crowd had stoned, cut, crushed, flagellated, poisoned, and branded him. The branding was particularly cruel. It was done with red hot kunai. The kanji for Daemon was now branded into Naruto's left cheek below the eye, whereas over heart the kanji for Evil was placed, and murderer on his left forearm, monster on his right. The regeneration he had from being the Jinchuriki stopped the bleeding, but at the present time could not heal over cauterized wounds such as these brands. Thus, they would be permanent scars. The mob had shouted endlessly about him being a daemon and a blight on the earth. They had done so countless times, but this time their blood-lust was truly monstrous. A few Shinobi started to slice into his skin and pour salt, vinegar, and light acids into the cuts they made. Each time causing the boy to scream. This continued until his throat bleed leaving him unable to scream any longer.

Naruto knew he was fading, he could see the dark circles in his vision. Then he saw a white robe and a figure that he seemed to remember from somewhere, but he just couldn't place it, especially in his current condition. In truth, he had seen the figure an innumerable count of time.

* * *

The Shinigami walked through Konoha in the early evening claiming the souls that had passed and were to stand before Kami for judgment. He could bring death when he willed, but most of the time just came and guided people along in the afterlife. He was finishing his rounds and had a good 20souls walking behind him when he came across the mob that was 'venting' on the 'Daemon-brat'. The deity had long since grown accustom to seeing the boy's blond spiky hair and eye that rivaled the ocean in the richness of their hue. It was his familiarity that concerned him. Most Shinobi landed on his doorstep a few dozen times before they crossed into his domain, but this boy had been at his door so often it was as if he was part of the doorway. This he could not ignore any longer.

The great reaper moved through the living as only the incorporeal could. When he got to the center the condition the boy was in shocked him. The souls that came with him saw the battered and tortured boy, and for the first time saw the boy and not the monster that destroyed so much. Unfortunately for them they literally realized this all too late, they were dead and as such could do nothing. Death gives a clarity that can't be found in life apart from the sages, and that meant one could see all their faults and wrongs, and that is what these spirits were feeling now.

As the Shinigami came near to the boy, the boy saw him approach and made to speak, but could only mouth the word he tried to say. "Hello friend. I feel as if I know you, but I can't remember from where." The boy paused only to fight a bout of pain from a man slowly crushing the bones in his left leg. "You had better get out of here so they don't do the same to you." A moment later and Naruto was unconscious.

The Shinigami was at a loss, most people in that position in that boy's position would have either cowered in fear of him or beg for him to take them now. This boy had however spoken as a friend and out of concern for a friend told him to leave to avoid being harmed. That was something that hadn't happened for millennia. He was even more shocked when he felt his own power within the boy. He looked closer and saw his seal on the boy's belly, and remembered who the boy was and what he contained. The Shinigami being present for the sealing had witnessed the last wish of the boy's father. The now angry deity looked over young Naruto's life and was very unpleased. Seeing the difference between what should have happened he could not stand by and let one that holds his Seal suffer this any longer. He resolved to give the boy a boon that he had never given anyone, the power over that which brings death and decay. It would belong to this boy as a defense mechanism and be his sword and shield when should the child need them. To his line to it would pass.

The Shinigami placed his right hand on the seal and poured into the boy the power to command, manifest, and be as decay, disease, pestilence, toxins, and all else that which brings death but war and direct age.

A Shinobi that still had plenty to vent had drawn his specially curved kunai and launched a volley at the boy's body. Before the blades were within 3 meters of the boy they had been reduced into a cloud of rust. Just after that the whole ally way grew cold and writing was burned into the wall above the boy by acid. The message was this: "I the Lord of death placed my seal, _**My Seal**_ , on this boy five years ago to the day. Since then you have done naught but make his life a fate worse than my stomach. Now I give him a chance at living by giving him all that brings you to my door. Keep that in mind when you deal with one that holds my seal on his flesh. **BE GONE!** "

The mob had quieted instantly and stared dumbstruck at the writing on the wall. It gave them an eerie feeling, it radiated an ethereal chill. One Chunin saw this as absolute justification, for their actions and charged with a tonto poised to sever the unconscious Naruto's head. The blade was rusted away. The rust swarmed around the hand that held its predecessor, and locked the ninja's hand in the grip it was in. Unable to move his hand the ninja went for a kick to the daemon-brat's head. When it got close it slowed down and was engulfed in goo. The goo burned, it was strong acid, and the ninja fell back in pain and tried to wipe and rinse the goo away.

Watching the man pay the price for his actions, the Shinigami grinned with his sward in his mouth. The souls he had collected agreed that their guide's actions were just and maintained his honor as the Lord of the dead. Still though, their guilt weighed on them, many had harmed the boy and as such would have to take their due before Kami. The rest had simply not bothered to help the boy, for which they would still answer only less harshly. One of them sent a silent prayer ahead of them asking that those they left behind might see the truth, but the soul that did so doubted that even if the prayer was answered in the positive if it would do any good for one who had lived a fate worse than death.

* * *

Inu had just returned to the village from a mission near the border with The land of Lightning. He was tiered and wanted nothing more than to report on his mission and collapse into his bed. He made his way to the Hokage's tower to give his report. Five minutes into the report both the Hokage and Inu felt the pulse of chill spread over the village before it receded. They and a team of other Anbu made their way to the epicenter of the event. The Hokage and dog masked ninja were filled with rage at what they had seen. Naruto in in a god forsaken state and a crowed of dissidence that had put him in that state. To the Hokage this was an attack on his surrogate grandson, though admittedly he had little time to spare for the child, and that he regretted now more than anything. To Inu, or as he was known outside the Anbu, Kakashi, this was an attack on the only thing he had left of his old team, this was his Sensei's son and thus the only thing left alive to remind him of his fallen team. Even if he was not Naruto's real godfather he was practically one. He wasn't around much because of missions, but he was here in the village far more often than Jiraiya. He felt ashamed for having not done anything for the boy, ashamed that he had been naive enough to hope his Master's will would have been observed by some of the villagers. Not any more, now he would be there, because no one else could or would, but for now he was filled with rage and powered his Chidori into is palm. He walked into the center of the crowd and stood before Naruto and turned to face the boy's tormentors.

"If you don't leave now," Kakashi said menacingly, "You will meet the Shinigami sooner than you think."

The mob dispersed shortly after and Naruto was taken to the hospital by the Hokage and Kakashi. They stood guard over him and would do so till the boy awakened. In that time, the two men decided that Kakashi would pull out of Anbu and become Naruto's guardian and teacher. That is, if he would wake from the coma he was know in.

* * *

The tenet of the boy's stomach was in no way pleased with his predicament. Sure he didn't want to die, but he would come back in a few years time, being a daemon and one of the nine great daemons had its perks when wassailing one's way out of death. The simple fact remained that if his vessel died he would be free to take revenge on that blasted Uchiha, and the village that kept him bound for nearly a century. With only a choice of Evils he decided to Judge the boy for himself, see if it would tolerable or even enjoyable to pry himself from the seal by tricking the boy into relying on him.

To the daemon's surprise the boy seemed to need no prompting to navigate his mind space. The boy stood before him, for a moment shock on his face then complete comprehension.

"Hello, I am Naruto." he said humbly. "I am your current vessel, and I apologize for the lack of accommodation here, but I have never been in my mind-space before to shape it. I shall endeavor to improve the space, as you are my guest unwilling though you might be."

This caused the fox to real back. He had not paid much attention to his host these past years, spent most of the time sulking and brooding in anger really, and certainly did not expect any child to be so clam and formal in his presence. "Well a proper introduction, I must admit I had not expected that of my Jailer. You even issued an apology. You are an interesting human I will say that much." The Fox gave in his deep daemonic tone.

Naruto was only slightly phased by the loudness of the voice, but was otherwise composed. "You call me your Jailer, but could we not be something else. I wouldn't mind having a friend, though I have no practice being a friend. You being stuck in me are probably lonely so..." Naruto trailed off casting his eyes to his feet as if he had been denied already.

The Fox was now utterly vexed. No human since the old man had ever had or wanted any form of relationship with the Tailed-Beasts. The old man was their father, and was the only one they respected. This child could not know what he was asking one simply doesn't ask an immortal entity of almost pure hatred to be its friend. Most that speak of such things only want to manipulate their 'friend' or want power. The Fox could see that this was not the case with this boy, and he chose to scan the boy's memory. It was not at all pleasant. Not a single memory of being loved or wanted. The boy craved some form of acknowledgment other than pain, but felt as if he would never get it. That is why he cut himself off when he last spoke. The child would rather let the slight hope burn in him that it might be possible to have someone to hold onto than to ask and know he would only be denied.

' _I could easily manipulate him, but after seeing that I simply can't. He even tried to ask me for friendship, when he has now deduced that I am why he is treated as such. Whats more is he earnestly wants it, not power, but a friend. Perhaps he is like the old man? I will try? Not really had cause to be anyone's friend before. Regardless he will need help controlling what Old-Knife-in-Mouth gave him, I can help him in some ways there._ '

"Kid, I will be your friend if you wish, just know I am surly. I will even help you when you ask, but know that these, both my friendship and aid come at a price." this caused the boy to look up shocked that he might have a fried supposing he could pay what ever price it was, which with his financial situation he doubted he could. Regardless his eye shined with longing.

"What is the price?" He asked with equal parts hope and resignation.

The fox could hear the conflicting emotions in that voice and knew that at that moment the boy feared not being able to pay the price more than anything else, for it would mean that he would be alone as he always remembered. "The price is two things, two favors if you will. First you are to change this infernal cage into something else, I haven't been able to stand fully since I was crammed in here. The second is to change your mind space to something less depressing, gray, and wet." the fox smiled as the boy's eyes lit up. "Oh and one more thing, I will give you my name, but it is not to leave this place without my express permission."

Naruto nodded and, as was only right according to his very archaic and formal mannerisms, prostrated before the entity before him. No one had ever been so kind to him and he showed his full gratitude.

"Thank you. I will pay your price gladly. " Tears fell freely from Naruto's blue eyes, but for the first time the pain that brought them felt good. He had not felt it before, but this was his first taste of joy. "You have my vow on my blood that I will hold to your conditions, and above all you have my gratitude." Naruto now lay openly sobbing, not getting up from his place on the floor, almost fearing that if he rose he would find that it was all a dream.

 **-End-**

* * *

 **Did I make any of you cry or cringe? If so please tell me how bad on a scale of 1-5, 1 being the least effected and being the most heavily effected. This is my first attempt at writing with those results in mind so feed back would be most helpfull.**

 **Naruto's powers are inspired by Magellan from One Piece and Barragan from Bleach.**

 **Thanks for reading and please review.**

 **Peace on all your houses,**

 **Sobek**


	2. Chapter 2

**Naruto, The Black Decay of the Leaf: Naruto, Ha no Kuro Fuhai**

 **Chapter 2**

As Naruto continued to cry a new presence joined him and Kurama in his mind. The Shinigami phased into being in front of Naruto. He lifted the child's bowed head so that they might speak face to face as Naruto prostrated in gladness of having a friend and fear of it all being an illusion or dream. It would not have been the first time he dared to dream such a dream, one in which he could have friends or not be glared at and in all conceivable ways reviled.

"My heir, why do you cry? I have come to explain some things to you. Will you calm yourself." The Shinigami said clearly with his sword in his mouth.

"I'm sorry." Naruto said out of programed fear of having someone so close to him, let alone touching him, as he curled in on himself. He did not open his eyes, bracing himself for what he thought was almost certain to happen. He knew to expect blows, stabs, and the like when people came near, but if he was curious enough or apologized for whatever it was he had done, his attackers would sometimes only keep at it a few minutes instead of an hour or two.

The Shinigami frowned at the reaction Naruto gave. He, as the harvester of souls and keeper of the dead, was not accustom to the comforting children, let alone one that had been damaged to this extent. ' _I might not be the best equipped to deal with this. Hmmm. I know who might be, but I hesitant to do ask. They would doubtless see it as a trick to take them._ ' The lord of death thought.

Kurama had seen the whole exchange. "You can't seriously be coming to claim our souls now Great Lord of the Dead." Though immortal even the tailed beasts knew to show proper respect to the gods, even when they were mostly beyond the reach of several of the gods. After all, the father of the 9 tailed beasts had undergone apotheosis and became a god. The beast that the 9 were split from was once a god as well. In short, respect your elders, and betters.

Kurama continued, "I can tell that his vitals are stable and that his body is restoring its strength. You have no authority to take us at the present time."

Shinigami turned his head to look at the daemon, 'Ah this gives me an idea.' He thought.

"Kurama, you still hold your status as a daemon lord, yes?" The deity half asking half stating.

"Would it kill you to say hello before asking something of someone else?" Kurama sighed. "Yes, I am still a daemon lord. Why?"

"Simply put, I need help pulling two souls, that reside in this space, out into the open to get this boy calm, but if I call them it will only scare them off. The humans know that the word of a daemon lord is true. So, if I give you my word that I mean no harm to them at this juncture, and you give them your word that my word is true than they will come out." Shinigami explained

"That is a good plan, but it has a few holes." Kurama gave.

"Such as?" Death inquired.

"There are three major holes: 1) We, meaning myself and these souls, are not on speaking terms. 2) Even if we were on speaking terms, they would not trust my word about others, only myself. 3) And I need you to follow me on this one. They were bound a failsafes to the seal and the kid learning to use my power. They can't act without that prompting, or they would have done so by now to help their son." The fox finished.

"This does hamper my plans." The Shinigami sighed. "I am unaccustomed to comforting those of similar hardship to this one. Most mortals simply calm themselves knowing that I am finality, and thus will bring their pain and heartache to an end. This child is different, for he has seen me before, to him I am just another bystander that has done little or nothing to indicate care or at least protection from his pain."

Both thought on a solution to the traumatized child before them. In the end, all that could be done was to speak calmly, and wait for the child to regain his senses.

To the pair's relief Naruto did so fairly quick. He may have learned submission to avoid pain, but he was always quick to grasp situations. Within 5 minutes he determined that it was unlikely he would be harmed and had calmed himself. He looked on the Shinigami and remembered that he had never hurt him, and had been the one to help him this time. That said, Naruto, by virtue of seeing the deity before, knew not that he would normally be something to fear. The Shinigami was intimidating in visage and aura, in the latter by a great degree more than Kurama, but he had never caused harm to Naruto or showed malice to him. Naruto was still cautious, but not as much as he would have been with one that had only enmity for him.

Naruto gave a tentative, "Hello, what might you want of me, sir?" to the strange floating man.

"Now that you have calmed down, I have somethings I need to explain. I am the Shinigami and you are under my protection as my new heir. Do you understand so far?"

Naruto tilted his head. He understood, but was perplexed. "I Think I get it, but if you are the Shinigami, why have I seen you around the village so often?"

The Shinigami gave a smirk, or what could pass as one while he held his blade in his mouth as he ever did. "That is the odd thing with you, or should I say one of the odd things about you. You have been to my threshold innumerable times, but still have not died. As it would happen you have something you are fated to do, and your friend here as well as your own lineage have kept you from dying to this point. I seek to mitigate some of your pains. You see young Naruto, that we met on the day you were born. I marked you with my seal by the will of the 4th Hokage. The villagers doubt that my seal will hold back your friend Kurama, and by their doubts do insult me. To preserve the honor and sanctity of the position I hold I needed to do something, not to mention I hate those that would harm children. If I had my way there would be an express route to the flames for them, but mother won't let me have it, she must judge them. Normally I can do nothing, but with you baring my seal I was able to help you. I have given you some of my powers, and have made you my heir. Essentially when I get bored of the harvest it will be your turn to take the job, if that day should ever come that is. You are not my son, only my successor and representative. From time to time I will need you to speed up the process of death, with your desire to become a Shinobi you will have little trouble with that when the time comes. Did you get all that?"

"Only just, but yes. Will I have to hurt good people?" Naruto sounded somewhat forlorn.

"For me, no. I will send you after deserving targets, but the aftermath is neither your fault or mine, as humanity can be crazy at times. For being a Shinobi, you already know the answer. Your mind has been absorbing the skills of your parents, whom sealed their souls into the seal as failsafes. They can't interact unless their actions are called for, but they did love you. Even though they can't teach you, you know from them what sacrifices are made by Shinobi. Sometimes you will be unable to protect everything, so you will protect what you can."

Naruto contemplated this and nodded. He could live with that. The Hokage tried to protect him, but could not do it all the time so it seemed a fair situation.

"Sir, what are my powers?"

"I was wondering when you would ask, kid. You have been given the power to command all that brings degradation and decay to the body. You command rot, decay, plague, pestilence, toxins, you name it, even oxidation. But that is only what you have from me, your heritage is of the Uzumaki and Namikaze clans. You also have your new friend here, Kurama of the tailed beasts. With enough effort, you would probably become unstoppable. So, you have powers by the bushel, but you need training. I came to give you a training schedule for your work with myself and Kurama. Every day you are to spend 2 hours in your mind space here with Kurama, he will help you in learning first your innate powers, then how to work with him. Then you will train with me on the 4 nights preceding and the night of the New Moon for 2 hours. This will help you where the one that waits for you in the real world can't. He will also help you once you need to adapt your abilities from your mind to the real world. He will also be the protector and family you have so craved. Trust the one in the mask of a dog. For now though, rest and learn of your friend. I will warn you, he may be nice to you and me, but for most of the world that will not be the case." With that the Shinigami phased out of Naruto's mind space.

"So, you really are my friend, not a dream or illusion?" Naruto questioned timidly.

Kurama growled in frustration, "Yes. We are friends. Now if you would be so kind as to at least change these bars into something else. Stretching my legs would be nice."

"How exactly do I do that?" Naruto asked with a hand behind his head.

"Simple, it's your mind. If you want to change something all you need to do is think about it, envision it as being what you imagine. It will take a toll on you, so just getting rid of the bars will do for now. Then you will need rest."

Naruto did as instructed, and envisioned the massive gate and seal morphing into an ornate collar of gold and silver with a massive glowing opal in the center. The jewel was in a square cut and centered with Kurama's chest, a corner aligned to his head, another corner the ground and the last two the horizon. Kurama walked out of the now bar-less cell and stretched out his limbs. As he did so Naruto collapsed, face first into the water. Kurama turned him over and gave a grin before letting the child be off to sleep.

* * *

When Naruto woke, his eyes were accosted with bright light. All he could see at first was white. It was quite the contrast from his dark, dank, and damp sewer of a mind space. He soon recognized the bright blaring lights and plain whiteness as a hospital room. He tried to hoist himself up into a seated position or at least raise his head to look around, but his body would not move and protested his will to move with all its exhausted being. Unable to lift himself Naruto gave a small grown as he let his eyes take in what he could of the room. His eyes eventually fell on two figures, one he recognized as the Hokage. The other was what seemed to be a man with silver hair and wearing a dog mask. Both men had fallen asleep in two of the chairs in the room.

The sun was either just rising or setting, Naruto couldn't tell, all he saw of the outside world was an orange glow that could pass as dawn or dusk. ' _It had been night when I was attacked, and, though I bounce back fast, I can't have recovered from that damage and wake in the coming morning. Therefore, this is either sun set the day after or sunrise the on the second morning after, those at the least. I would wager on sunrise if these two are asleep._ '

Naruto let out a groan as he tried to turn his head again. This was apparently enough to wake the two seasoned shinobi.

"Naruto, it's good to see that you've regained consciousness. You had us worried." The Hokage said.

Inu stood and approached the bed. "I know that you have little reason to trust me, but I would like to become your guardian. Adopt you, if you are willing?"

Naruto strained to respond, his words coming out disjointed. "You wish… to become my… guardian… yet you gi… give not your… name. That is … not usually… a good sign. You are right, nor…normally I wouldn't trust… anyone but Oldman Hokage." Naruto's face was pouring sweat from the exertion of speaking and fighting back the pain such a minor task caused in his current state. Despite this he continued. "I… would not trust you… so readily… if it weren't… for two age old beings… telling me I could." Naruto finished nearly lapsing into unconsciousness again as he took in gasps of air and let out hisses of pain.

The Hokage gave a concerned glance at Naruto as the boy struggled to stay awake. "Naruto, you shouldn't be exerting yourself so soon. I am interested in these beings, but you should rest. We can discuss them later."

"Later in more… detail yes… now just… take their titles." Naruto tried to say with some strength, but being five and weak as he was he only looked pathetic. Enough so that the Hokage inclined his head giving Naruto the go ahead. "The Shinigami… himself, and… the Nine-Tails… that is sealed… by the Shinigami's power within me." Naruto said before he finally lost the battle to the strain of his body, and fell into a deep sleep.

"This is concerning. If he has contacted beast it might try to take control. I will not lose him to the beast as well as sensei." Kakashi said looking forlornly at the now sleeping boy.

"Calm yourself, we do not yet know that it has any grip, or how the Shinigami might play into the Fox having made contact. We must wait until we have more information, and until Naruto is strong enough to give it to us. Another day or two is all we need wait. He has recovered very well thus far. The injuries would have taken nearly a year to heal fully normally. Yet here he is not yet a full 24 hours after the incident, and he is nearly whole. By no means in the best health, but no bleeding and most of his broken bones mended. Whether or not he his influenced by something that seeks him harm is a question that will just have to wait. I know one thing though, with healing ability like this, and whatever boons the Shinigami gave him, Naruto will make one shinobi I would not want to face, once he is trained."

With that the Hokage left to attend his nemesis, **paperwork**. As he left he dispelled 5 of the six clones that he had made to keep guard over the night and left Naruto in Kakashi's protection.

* * *

It was dusk the third day after the attack that Naruto had fully recovered and gave the two men the answers they craved. At first, they feared the implications of Naruto being friends with the Fox, but after the whole of the information was known they were a little more relaxed.

"It would appear, you have found favor with two powerful forces, Naruto. I can only hope they do you well." The Hokage said with a great grin threatening to split his face. He was relieved that Naruto would be capable of defending himself, and wheeled his heritage sooner than expected. He knew Naruto would need it.

"I will help train you, that is for sure, but how do we get this to go right and keep the village off your back?" Kakashi said. He had left his dog mask on the bedside table in the room. Part for trust and part to get Naruto familiar with his face. His lower mask was still in place.

Naruto thought a moment and came up with a solution that would work if all went well. "Well, we go through with the adoption. After that we train for a year. Then we will need to live double lives or disappear from the village spotlight for a while. You would take me on as your apprentice in the ANBU. The secrecy and strength of that organization should be enough to conceal me until those of my proper graduation age do so and are up to take the chunin exam. That would be the earliest to reveal our gambit, if not too early. In these next few years we must train me to use and control my abilities. Only when these people see that I could have crushed them on my own power but stayed my hand will they see fit to respect, let alone trust me. Should that fail, I can sink into the depths of the ANBU unnoticed after that."

"Naruto, I know your bright, but how did you come up with that?" The Hokage asked.

"Remember that I have apparently been absorbing the knowledge of my parents. Language skills, history, mathematics, evasion, and seemingly even chakra manipulation. As time goes on I will have all they knew at my disposal. However, knowing is only half of mastery. It will take much work to actually master the use of their knowledge, but I will see it done."

Kakashi gave an eye smile at his soon to be son's dedication to learning his skills. "We will help however we can, Naruto. I will also do my best to keep the crowds off you, but that might not always be possible." Kakashi said speaking with fear for the boy when he would eventually not be able to save him.

"About that," Naruto said to get the man out of his fearing the inevitable, "It might not be ideal to go through their…venting," Naruto said nervously "But could prove beneficial in the long run."

Both men were shocked, "How could it possibly be beneficial to go through beatings when they can be avoided?" the two asked incredulously.

"It could be beneficial in many ways, but I will stick to the most practical." With that Naruto proceeded to make a cut down his index finger using the tip of a practice kunai, the blade was dull, never having been sharpened, but the point could still do damage. He cut to show bone to the two men. Naruto only winced slightly at the pain, being used to worse. As soon as he laid the knife aside, he showed his wound to them. To their astonishment the wound was regenerating at a rate far greater than should be human.

To pull them out of their shock, Naruto spoke again, "I, through my Uzumaki blood, the Fox's dormant power, and now the reliance of Shinigami's gift, have the unique ability to regenerate some of my injuries. The Fox told me on one of my lapses into my mind during this recovery that each Jinchuuriki is granted a special power from their tenant, mine was regeneration. If I train it I could recover from even lost limbs without medical treatment. The skill is limited to both my own chakra and the amount of my tenant's chakra my body can handle." He said matter of factly. "My body being severely malnourished, and young, has only a pittance tolerance to his chakra, that is why these burn scars could not heal." He finished with a sullen expression. He understood why the villagers did what they did (as abhorrent as their reasons were, are, and may continue to be), but he did not have to like it. He would, however, use their ire to grow stronger.

Kakashi being the one who would care for Naruto, gave his two cents. "Naruto, though you could further your regenerative powers by such means, would it not prove better to pace yourself by steadily increasing the severity of the wounds in a controlled setting and under anesthetic to prevent the pain from causing errors in the placement of the injuries."

"If regeneration alone were the only goal than your solution would be ideal." Naruto said. "However, bearing the brunt of their anger can help in two more ways. The fist it would be increasing my pain tolerance for both battle wounds and physical torture. The second is in resistance to psychological torture. Interrogators are taught to dehumanize their subject. That would be hard to do to one that has been treated as a monster by their own people. So, the purposes of prolonging my suffering are to make me difficult to slay and difficult to get information out of. A shinobi must endeavor to obtain these traits for the sake of their village."

' _So young, yet so dedicated to the protection of this village. A Village that has certainly given him no reason to give himself to its protection. Yes, the Will of fire burn strong in him, just like it did in both of you. Minato. Kushina. Then again, in a way, he learned it from both of you, but to stand by it is his own will._ ' Thought the Hokage. He smiled at Naruto and nodded to Kakashi. They would do what they could to keep things from getting out of hand, but for the sake of Naruto and his training, would allow the villagers to continue their onslaught to some degree. The two men would have preferred Naruto not have to suffer it, but his arguments were sound.

* * *

When Naruto was released from the hospital Kakashi took him to his old apartment to collect his few worldly possessions. Aside from the close on his back and the decrepit furniture that should have been thrown out long ago, they filled half a brief case with his clothes and equipment. In total, 2 thread bare t shirts, 3 and a half pairs of socks, 4 pairs of underwear, a pair of shorts Naruto had stitched back together 5 times already, a half-completed training Kunai and Shuriken set that was terribly rusty, a carpentry manual, 2 musty scrolls that might have dated back to the founding of the Leaf Village or earlier that Naruto found discarded from the library, and the chopsticks he ate his first bowl of ramen with.

The only reason all these were in one place was because of the Nine-tails festival. During the festival, his birthday, the villagers were always so caught up with hunting him that they left the apartment alone so long as he was not in it. In short, he moved his few possessions back to the apartment, as it was the safest place for all of it during the day of the festival and a few days on either side, despite the place being in total shambles. It might be junk, but it was what he could get ahold of with everyone mad about him being a daemon.

' _This is all he has, all he has been able to keep safe from destruction?_ ' Kakashi asked to himself knowing that Naruto had probably fought tooth and nail to protect this much from the villagers. Probably a few extra beatings to lure them away from where he stashed the things.

"Well once we get you and your things to my house we need to get you a proper wardrobe." Kakashi said encouragingly.

"That would be nice." Naruto smiled. He always wondered what new clothes felt like.

* * *

 **-About 3 Months Later-**

Naruto was no longer a bag of bones, still a little on the skinny and short side, but much healthier than he was before Kakashi took him in. To keep up the illusion that he was still on the streets Naruto would spend a day or two in the village every week. He would be chased and attacked, but that was part of his plans anyway, so he didn't complain. He did however miss the meals he would eat at his 'Dad's' house. He was happy to just have Kakashi as his new dad, let alone that he actually cared for and taught him. He already learned how to use his stealth to a greater degree, and the substitution technique. He had finished learning basic seals, and had started on intermediate seals for traps. He was also in the proses of learning the hide in shadows technique, almost mastered, just not quite there. He was still not working outside his mind for his powers, better to wait until he understood what they did and how to think of applying them before he practiced them in the real world.

Naruto was out on one of his excursions in the village when he got quite hungry. He had forgotten to eat breakfast, which would usually be enough for him to get by. He was no stranger to starvation and as such could endure quite some time without a meal, but would rather see his stomach placated than have to deal with the annoyance of its grumbling. To this end he walked toward the store only for his stomach to growl loudly on the way there.

One of the crowd that was in ear shot got an idea, a truly awful idea.

A woman approached Naruto with a smile on her face. It was genuine in the sense that she was happy, but not the sense of good will toward Naruto. She held a basket in front of her.

"You are hungry little one? You can have these if you like." She said showing the contents of her basket, a few apples, and some round black glossy berries. "They were about to go bad so I was going to throw out any that I could not give away by noon. They might not be as good as fresh, but should still be enjoyable." She said with an overly sweet voice.

This woman was a Kunoichi, and one well versed in intel missions. These apples and berries were her means of eliminating the target if the situation called for it. What she said about them beginning to go bad was true, and with them bad, they would be of no help. She simply purposely 'forgot' the apples were poisoned with the extract of the berries, belladonna.

Naruto could feel something was off about this, ' _Random people just don't offer me food. What's the catch to this._ '

Kurama, through their mind link, offered his observations. ' _Kit she is trying to poison you. The berries are belladonna berries, from the nightshade family. Pity that it will probably have no effect on you._ '

' _What do you mean no effect, I am still mortal am I not?_ ' Naruto asked confused as to what his friend meant.

' _Yes, you are mortal, but your benefactor gave you quite the gift 3 months ago. You are immune to_ _ **all**_ _poison kit, you can even command it. That Shinigami is certainly no miser when he gives a gift. It's getting a gift out of him that is the problem most face._ ' Kurama ground out.

' _Neat, I did not think I would be totally immune, just heavily resistant._ ' Naruto thought in reply. Then it hit him. ' _This is the best prank ever and it just fell right into my lap._ '

' _What ever do you mean? How could this be a prank? Do you intend to pretend to poison someone?_ '

' _In a sense my friend, in a sense._ '

Naruto gave a suspicious look at first then out stretched his hand as he began to smile. "Thanks, now I will have something to share with the old man. He always brings something, now I can offer him something to eat like a proper host." Naruto said excitedly taking the basket.

The woman, along with most of the village new exactly who the 'daemon brat referred to by 'old man', the Hokage. A sudden pallor took her face. ' _I must get him to not feed these to the Hokage. I will not be branded a traitor for trying to rid us of the daemon and taking out our leader in the prosses._ '

"You plan to have the Hokage over. I would recommend you feed him something else, he is allergic to a lot of fruits." She made up franticly as she waved her hands.

Kakashi had been observing from a nearby roof top and was just winning a battle with the giggles. He knew what the woman had been playing at, and to see it thrown back in her face was indeed funny.

Naruto did his best to look crest fallen. "Oh. That is unfortunate, I had hoped to be a good host for once." He said dejected. "I guess I will just have to eat it all myself." He said perking up and grabbing a handful of berries.

The woman smirked as the 'daemon brat' chewed and swallowed a few of the berries.

Naruto forced a look of fear onto his face and his skin to pail with the same false fear. He beckoned for the woman to come closer, which she did only so she could bask in watching the daemon die. When she kneeled in front of him he leaned forward to whisper in her ear.

"You know you should be more careful who you try to poison in future." He whispered as he placed a few berries in her mouth. He had a sense of mischief in his eyes "For all you know I could have been an infiltrator that you gave the means to an effective assassination and framing you."

At this she grew wan all over again and swallowed involuntarily. This of course led to the swallowing of the berries. She was speechless.

"You work with this poison on you so it is safe to assume you know the antidote and likely have it on hand, just in case. Such is the paranoia of an accomplished ninja. Fear that your own weapon will be used against you and your interests. I recommend you take it within the next minute or two, lest you succumb to your own weapon. As for myself, let's just say that with all I have been through, it will take a great deal more to kill me than poison. Even aconite is now only a dull annoyance. The irony is that it is because of everyone trying to kill me that I am now so hard to kill." He finished leaving the woman quivering in the realization that every attempt on his life only made him all the more daunting to kill. She quickly took the antidote, but was still frozen in place, processing the information.

As she processed all this he shouted back to her from 10 paces away. "That said, thank you for the meal, even if it is poisoned. Until recently I rarely tasted food that was otherwise edible. Most of the time it was rotten or filled with shrapnel, so thanks are in order." He gave honestly before he walked away.

After a moment, she regained herself and slowly stood. As she did she said, "What have we unleashed, that it seeks to condemn me with lecture one moment and thank me the next." To her surprise an answer came from beside her from a dog masked ANBU.

"A boy with the ambition to lead us for our betterment, otherwise he would have taken the antidote off you so you would have died. He corrected your errors in judgment while still granting you mercy, for the sake of the village. Be grateful he does not hold grudges against all who have wronged him, for if he did who could stand. He will be one fine Ninja one day, if he manages to not pick up the habits of grudges and revenge until then." With that he was gone in a swirl of leaves.

She was left to think as Kakashi caught up to his sun and congratulated him on his prank.

* * *

 **-End-**

 **Favorite, Fallow, Review, and just plain live life.**

 **AN: College fall term is in and sorry for the delay, but life happens. I still uploaded both stories this month, which is more than I can say I might be able to do for the duration of term, so expect sporadic updates from now until winter. On the subject of length, I do not like to upload a chapter of less than 2500 words, if I do upload below that threshold I have a bad case of writer's block.**

 **Thank you for reading my brain dribble.**

 **Peace on all your houses,**

 **Sobek**


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